The Humans Who Went Extinct

Why Neanderthals Died Out and We Survived

Clive Finlayson

A fresh, ecological focus, looking at how scientists piece together clues about changing climate in the recent past, and how early peoples coped with it

Challengers readers' perspectives by emphasizing that we were not the only kind of human around

Looks at Neanderthals and Moderns together, within a changing ecological landscape

Tells the story leading up to Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs, and Steel amd ends where it begins

The Humans Who Went Extinct

Why Neanderthals Died Out and We Survived

Clive Finlayson

Description

Hailed by Dan Agin in The Huffington Post as "fascinating...electrifying...an apocalyptic vision that puts a chill down one's back," this provocative book offers a new perspective on the extinction of the Neanderthals. Today, we think of Neanderthals as crude and clumsy, easily driven to extinction by the lithe, smart humans who came out of Africa some 100,000 years ago. But Clive Finlayson reminds us that the Neanderthals were another kind of human, and their culture was not so very different from that of our own ancestors. In this book, he presents a wider view of the events that led to the migration of the moderns into Europe, what might have happened during the contact between the two populations, and what finally drove the Neanderthals to extinction. It is a view that considers climate, ecology, and migrations of populations, as well as culture and interaction. His conclusion is that the destiny of the Neanderthals was sealed by ecological factors--in short, a major climate change--and it was a matter of luck that we survived while they perished.

The Humans Who Went Extinct

Why Neanderthals Died Out and We Survived

Clive Finlayson

Table of Contents

1. The road to extinction is paved with good intentions2. Once we were not alone3. Failed experiments4. Stick to what you know best5. Being in the right place at the right time6. If only...7. Africa in Europe - a Mediterranean Serengeti8. One small step for man...9. Forever opportunists10. The pawn turned playerEpilogue: Children of ChanceEndnotes

The Humans Who Went Extinct

Why Neanderthals Died Out and We Survived

Clive Finlayson

Author Information

Clive Finlayson, a noted expert on the Neanderthals, is Director of the Gibraltar Museum and Adjunct Professor at the University of Toronto.